16 trillion as well. that is interesting that is how they are going into it. sandwiched by a lot of bad news. melissa francis, welcome back. melissa: i am melissa francis. were you better off than you were four years ago? we will look at the numbers and how both parties are using this question to their advantage. we will talk to wall street journal senior economics writer. as well as lou dobbs. factory activity shrinking for the third straight month pushing market down today. we are down 80 points. auto sales are up. reporting higher sales than a year ago. should you invest in the american auto makers?

it is time for stocks now as we do every 15 minutes. let's head to the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole petallides is standing by. nicole: we have down arrows across the board. the fear index is higher. also the dollar is stronger. we do have a market coming in under a little bit of pressure. down about .5%. you noted some of the economic news we got in, including construction spending. manufacturing sector, that also shrank once again. we do have a big deal when we talk about mergers and acquisitions. it is merger monday, but it was merger tuesday because of the holiday. this is a 39% premium from friday's close. both hitting 52 week highs.

dermatology and skin care really gives them a boost in that category. botox, anti-wrinkle cream, etc. back to you. melissa: democrats making their pitch for a second term for president obama. asking americans if they are better off now than they were four years ago. peter barnes is live in charlotte. >> republicans have invited ronald reagan to the democratic convention using his famous question. they hope to hammer the democrats with it all week. listen. >> the president has no record to run on. in fact every president since the great depression who asked americans to send them into a second term could say you are better off today than you were four years ago except for jimmy

carter and president barack obama. [ applause ] >> democrats appear to be knocked off balance by this line of attack. the president himself perhaps hoping republicans by giving them a grade of incomplete. listen to this. >> i give him an a for effort. i give him and a for making sure americans --

melissa: peter barnes, thank you so much. democratic national convention kicking off in north carolina today. stephen moore is the senior economics writer at the "wall street journal" and he joined me now to wait in. we were just watching that piece and talking about what democrats need to accomplish here. are you better off than you were four years ago? do you think that what we just heard was a good enough answer. >> it is a very tough question for obama. for a lot of people they feel we are at in immediate financial crisis. when you have to play five years of 8% unemployment, less than 2% economic growth, it is hard to say we are much better off than we were four years ago. i think the bigger question the voters will ask themselves how

are they better off than they were four years ago, but rather, do they feel confident that the economy is repairing thought that they will be better off the next four years. that is a question a lot of people are saying no to. melissa: i think they are a lot more sophisticated than people give them credit for. did look at the two candidates and ask to will do a better job. >> this is about the best we can do, 2% growth. romney i think has to make a more powerful case. the lower tax rates. the spending reductions. the probe drilling energy policies. it will actually put people back to work there did it does not matter which party gets elected, we are in a terrible situation.

you know we have been very critical because he did not really make the case. he introduced himself. he did the biography thing very well. he said he had the qualifications to do the job. i don't think anyone doubts that. melissa: what would they need to say? [ talking over each other ] >> they have to explain it to people. how tax cuts will lead to other things. melissa: americans don't buy that a sick argument. >> talking about the tax rates. we had rising incomes. the middle class did very well.

melissa: is that romney running out of time? i was on my way home from the airport and -- >> we all feel like we are running out of time. melissa: i just want the guy who will make the economy better. i am sick of not having enough money, i am sick of friends not having work. >> they are a fume more than 60 days left. sure, he has plenty of time. romney will have to explain his tax cuts at the debates. romney is repeating the failed mistakes of george w bush. melissa: what is the number one way to counter that connect that is where fiscal responsibility comes in. i am a republican, but i am

ashamed of what republicans did the last time they had power. they have to earn back the faith of the american people. not only will they gain the american economy. melissa: well he is not running either. >> the words that barack obama said 3.5 years ago may come back and haunt him. if i have not got this job done in three or four years, i will be a one term. melissa: we appreciate your time. fox business contributor phil flynn is in the pits of the cme. what is up with the trade today? >> we felt a little bit of a reversal early on. commodity prices were higher in hopes we would see some stimulus out of europe. some week data has brought oil prices down.

if you look at the story, the big story, the lack of comeback down in the gulf coast. despite the fact they have made incredible strides. offshore oil production online. they are not as far as some traders had hoped. if you look at the gasoline futures, they have been trading higher most of the day. they are off their highs, but still up. you are reversing that long heat, short gasoline spread. we did get some breaking news out of louisiana. the philips 66 alliance refinery that was under water, the good news is they are making progress in bringing that back online. they have restored power at that refinery. if they can get the leak under control, perhaps, that refinery will be back online. natural gas is actually higher. it is being caused by the storm.

it has actually raised the price of electricity and natural gas is going up with it. what do you know. melissa: phil flynn, thank you so much. charles payne is working hard to kick off the week with some stock picks. he has his eye on takeovers. first, as we do every day at this time, but take a look at how metals are trading today. gold is up about a half a percentage point. sober up almost 3%. we will be right back. ♪

♪ melissa: it is time to make money with charles payne. he is looking at what seems like a takeover. he is the famous tv personality. charles: very touching. i will write a letter or something. what is going on in the market, there is a big takeover this morning. the biggest drugmaker and canada, 39% acquisition. the stock is up 7%. this is not the first time it has happened. we tracked at least 18 stocks since makes that were not think they were taking over another company and their stock has gone

up. melissa: that is unusual. charles: last week hertz went up. hertz, you got a good deal. i sounded a little pessimistic because i am looking for a catalyst. from a pure fundamental view, what wall street is telling us with these acquisitions and the acquired company share going so high, they think the stock market is cheap and undervalued. the big problem is getting it to consistently go out and find good macro news. today we have manufacturing data that was week, 130,000 jobs from friday. there is not really any good news per se from the economy. when i see stocks go up after announcing they will acquire

another company is amazing. melissa: it also tells you it is a stock picker's market. charles: you have to know what you are doing which makes it a lot harder, of course. i look at these, any industry, i will tell you one thing i do notice, the cash deals obviously helped a lot. when a company says, listen, we think our stock is too valuable to use as currency. that is a good sign. melissa: thank you so much. charles payne. as we do every 15 minutes, let's check the markets. nicole petallides is on the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole: we are talking first about morgan stanley. jpmorgan cut goldman sachs meanwhile. why did jpmorgan upgrade morgan stanley? they did this from a neutral. they are impressed with the companies strong capital

position. also, they're cheap evaluation. you are seeing morgan stanley up. looking good there. on the price target, $20 on morgan stanley. 15.23. there is some upside there. facebook is that a new low of 17.55. here today, there is facebook again, we like to check in on it. here it is at 17.76. down about 46% this quarter. back to you. melissa: up next, charlie gasparino has exclusive information of meeting facebook ceo. as we go to break, take a look at how the dollar is faring. you can see it is stronger across the board. we will be right back. ♪

♪ ♪ i can do anything ♪ i can do anything today

♪ i cano anywhere ♪ i can go anywhere today ♪ la la lla la la la [ male announcer ] dow solutions help millions of people by helping to make gluten free bread that doesn't taste gluten free. together, the elements of science and the human element can solve anything solutionism. the new optimis

and what they said is amazing. review 5-hour energy and the human element can solve anything over 73 percent who reviewed 5-hour energy said they would recommend a low calorie energy supplement to their healthy patients who use energy supplements. seventy-three percent. 5-hour energy has four calories and it's used over nine million times a week. is 5-hour energy right for you? ask your doctor. we already asked 3,000.

>> @21 minutes past the hour i have your fox news minute. more than 100,000 refugees fled the violence in syria in august. the increasing number of people seeking asylum highlights the escalating violence between the president and the armed antigovernment groups. lawyers for drew peterson are due to present their closing arguments. the former suburban police officer is accused of murdering his wife in 2004. prosecutors say the circumstantial evidence points to one man and that man is drew peterson. a standoff continues in bedford heights, ohio, where police and wildlife officials are trying to get a black bear down from a tree. firefighters tried to use a hose. so far, no luck. those are your news headlines on

the fox business network. now back to melissa. melissa: julie, thank you so much. facebook debacle deteriorating. sheryl sandberg recently met with -- charlie gasparino has all of the details. charlie: i feel particularly good about this story. they try to deny my last story about sheryl sandberg. they actually denied it to other news organizations. we have completely verified by every which way you can verify this time a sandberg met post- ipo with a gentleman named larry fink. one of the ultimate insiders. the biggest institutional investor in the world. blackrock is the number six

largest shareholder and facebook. think that the meeting with sandberg at the request of a mutual friend. melissa: the head of alternative investments. i am sure that is who it is. i have no knowledge of that, but i am betting. charlie: i think that is a good educated guess. larry fink is a guy, you do not turn to him for advice on how they can transform their mobile applications. you go to larry think because you have a problem with your image on wall street. you want advice on how to clear that up. from what i understand, that is exactly what happened. they did talk about the disastrous ipo and the pricing. the ipo right off the bat it a height of 45, it is not 45 now, it is nowhere near.

this is a 12-$15 top. we have mark downward momentum to go. the lockup. is going to end. you have a business that is under incredible dow. one of the interesting things about twitter versus facebook is trying to figure out exactly its business model before it goes public. sometime in 2013 when they will do this, if they do it, it could be longer. james dorsey taking his time. not rushing into it. facebook did not do that. now they are caught off guard. they have slowing growth on a lot of different areas. that is like sheryl sandberg met with larry fink. depending on their denial, you can get an a lot of trouble from the sec.

it gives investors the wrong impression about the company and depending on the type of stories and statements they put out, i will have to parse through that sort of language good take no prisoners, alternative firm goes out and hires the brunswick group. the pr guy in particular was a former white house george bush pr guy. interesting how times have changed over there. they clearly met with larry fink. i do not know that they met with anyone else. i assume they did. i do not know that. larry think is the king of wall street. melissa: yeah, he is the man. charlie: we should point out that larry fink is one of the few wall street supporters of president obama. we should always point out -- hemp and bob woolf.

we said he is favoring the president's reelection. i did not know how much money he gave this time. he is a guy that a lot of people talk about being potentially treasury secretary went geithner steps down. melissa: what advice did he give her, do you think? charlie: this is what i heard and i heard this from someone who apparently has first-hand knowledge of the conversation. so far, blackrock is not commenting. facebook is not commenting, yet. they will probably try to deny this one as well. good luck, guys. he asked her about the ipo. why did they price it so high. yes, one of her excuses was they did not want a quick and dirty

payday. i think that is completely stupid. they wanted to squeeze as much juice out of this lemon. [laughter] he also asked her about why she had a problem with flippers, wall street hedge fund traders. either way, some of those are average people who do that. he will flip out and he will -- very narrow. the shorter they are traditionally on ipos. he sold out of his. what is the difference between flippers and those guys selling out. the same kind of difference. they are getting out making a bundle, so why should it wall street. melissa: charlie gasparino sniffing out the story. thank you so much.

september could put an end to that did find out why. first, take a look at some of the winners on the s&p 500. game stop up 4.5%. we will be right back. ♪

melissa: time for stocks now as we do every 15 minutes. but head to the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole: working closely with amazon. we have seen netflix selling off. it has recovered somewhat from

its earlier loss. the whole deal is it is a multi- year deal. they used to have a deal with netflix. that is why we are saying netflix under pressure. amazon up 44%. back to you. melissa: thank you so much. cooling off from the third straight monthly gain. my next guest is not so convinced. joining me now heritage capital president and chief investment officer. thank you so much for joining us. >> hi, melissa. great to see you. this has been the quietest july and august 5, 2005. summers used to be really quite. it is like watching paint dry

for august 2012. normally, volatility contraction, when it gets early quiet, the next step is expansion. this could go on for the next couple of days, eventually the market will get a healthy dose of volatility. we have not seen big hundred point days in a long time. that is coming down the road. certainly in the fourth quarter. melissa: what direction are we moving at that point? you say we will either get a good shot to the downside in mid- to late october or we will grind higher to the election will we see a final cap higher to specific peak followed by decline at year end. which one is it? >> to me, the market is borrowing time. there are so many cracks in the pavement did you have things like the russell lagging, mid- caps lagging, sector leadership is really mediocre at best.

i just missed volume totally. there is a bunch of things over the intermediate term. it shows me liquidity and the amount of money in cash. it is a positive. they got hit pretty good today. there are a couple of maps that you could look at based on previous lesson cycles. one is the slow grind continues into the election, and then we decline hard after that or -- melissa: paul, what is your pet? how would you bet your money? >> september 12, so many things will be revealed. you have the german courts, the ecb, a lot will happen in the next week to nine days. i think we do have one more shot

to the upside. i think we poke above new 2000 highs and that will be an opportunity for the bulls to take them off the table. i think it is a selling opportunity more than it would be folks piling on. i am really worried about stocks like google and amazon and especially apple. they can see their prices cut literally in half. melissa: wow. paul, thank you for joining us. a new poll shows voters don't think they were better off than they were four years ago. up next, lou dobbs. as we go to break, here is a look at the ten and 30 year. we will be right back. ♪ want to try to crack it? yeah, that's the way to do it!

now we need a little bit more... a little bit more vanilla? this is great! [ male announcer ] at humana, we believe there's never been a better time to share your passions because the results... are you having fun doing this? yeah. that's a very nice cake! [ male announcer ] well, you can't beat them. [ giggles ] ohh! you got something huh? whoa... [ male announcer ] humana understands the value of spending time together that's a lot of work getting that one in! let's go see the birdies. [ male announcer ] one on one, sharing what you know. let's do it grandpa. that's why humana agents will sit down with you, to listen and understand what's important to you.

it's how we help you choose the right humana medicare plan for you. because when your medicare is taken care of, you can spend more time sharing your passions. wow. [ giggles ] [ male announcer ] with the people who matter most. i love you grandpa! i love you grandma! now you're a real fisherman. [ male announcer ] humana. ♪ >> i am adam shapiro with their fox business brief. the bearish tone on wall street continues. right now the dow is down roughly 80 points. now, -- in an effort to move forward global business unit model. those executives will report to a newly formed executive committee for the company.

home prices posted their largest jump in six years back in july. further evidence the housing market is recovering. according to data, prices were up 3.8% nationwide compared to a year ago, but are still 27% below their peak reached in 2006. that is the latest from the fox business network. giving you the power to prosper. ♪

melissa: aren't you better off than you were four years ago? 52% of voters say the country is worse off. 54% say president obama does not deserve reelection based on his job performance. joining me now to wait and is lou dobbs. whether they were looking at

mail, female, age group, overwhelmingly saying that the country is worse off and they don't think president obama deserves reelection. lou: these numbers are closer than most polls show it. this affected with this president's economic policy. those numbers are considerably higher. reaching to the point of 40% think the president -- a different statement. it is not the same thing as saying i am not going to vote for him. who could argue. no one here, i think, is under any illusion that it will be easy for either one of these men to lead us through the next four years, through the troubled economy, through a period of making very difficult decisions. i think that is being reflected. do you deserve it? the answer is easily hell no.

it is a choice between two men in their respective political aspiration. melissa: the stats are devastating. some like to quibble about the time. when you look at things, like i thought the most devastating was what the federal reserve said about that average families net worth dropping from 40%. the question becomes can mitt romney do better. lou: that will be the issue for most americans who are voting. that is why we are seeing a dead heat right now. i know that president obama and his folks don't like to look at it this way, the reality is for any incumbent president to be in dead heat with any challenger, the political advisors for this president repeatedly said, give us romney.

they got romney. here is a man standing there with his wife, his five children, his 18 grand children, a man of a men's professional accomplishment and an impeccable life in terms of what he has done for his community, charity, his church and he is running against, you know, a fellow who is the poster, picture of what every man in this country would aspire to be, unless, you know, well, i would say most men would inspire to be. perfect in his personal and business life. i don't find help people find fault. melissa: bringing out some folks from bain capital on stage two, i guess, were spewed mitt romney's record.

lou: they are trying to destroy him. the more pictures you see of mrs. romney, the more pictures you see of the family friend, this man has committed himself to supporting them and helping them. this is a man who stands as a model, to the point that there are some in the society who will be so turned off by that because it is, they are so counter cultural pretending to a political philosophy. they are trying to deny everything that this country has been while he is a demonstration of everything it can be. melissa: lou dobbs, thank you very much. we see you here at this time. lou: every single day. it never gets tiring. melissa: i also watch you at 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. eastern. you will kick off the big convention tonight. lou: without us it would not

happen is that you have the author of "fool me twice." lou: and we will talk about a second term for president obama. melissa: sales are up for general motors and forward. we will investigate that. as we go to break, take a look at some of today's winners and losers. we have the winners there. we will be right back. ♪

>> i'm nicole petallides live on the floor of the new york stock exchange. where we check our markets every 15 minutes. let's take a look how the

dow is faring right now. down about 78 points, off its earlier lows. we were down below the 13,000 mark. i want to take a look here at a few names related to coal as we do have some analyst calls. console saying weaker demand for coal used to make steel. look at names like peabody energy, alpha natural resources. rose cutting those two names, to a hold. we're keeping an eye on consol energy. i mentioned consol energy earlier. dahlman raising their price target. those are some names we continue to watch. the group overall coming under pressure much more so than the market averages. melissa: nicole, thanks so much. will the trend continue in september? sandra smith has the details from the pits of the cme in today's trade. sandra. >> got to tell you from

spending time down here on the trading floor, melissa, the trade definitely is to continue to buy the commodities. in fact some of the biggest performers so far this year have been things like natural gas silver is the sleeper commodity. it is the best performer for august and one of the best performers so far for 2012. it definitely has been the grains have been outperforming all things, even commodities themselves, plus the bond market, the stock market and the currency market. those are expected to continue. right now if you look at the price of corn, goldman sachs put out a note, they believe corn prices will continue to rise from the levels they're at today. they're calling for $9 a bushel. a 13% jump from where they are today. they say they will see that before the end of the year. oil prices they like oil at these current levels. they're calling for a 19% jump in oil prices by the end of the year. that is just a three-month gain, guys. they're looking at high commodity prices they're at today. the fact they're outperforming the rest of

asset classes for the last couple months. they're saying they will continue to go higher from here. actually, if you look at the silver prices unbelievable, guys. people have been focusing on gold. gold returning to that 1700 level. silver has been the big winner. melissa, it is not expected to end anytime soon. so the expectation from traders down here, there is more easing. we get a weaker dollar. that pushes up those commodity prices. so the bets are on. back to you. melissa: great. thank you so much, sandra smith. august auto sales numbers are out and the three major u.s. automakers posting double-digit sales gains for august. joining us with more what this means for the economy and auto stocks is a first trust senior vice president. thank you so much for joining us. let's get right to it. the numbers were, you know, pretty impressive. you look ford up 13%. gm 10%, chrysler 14% and what strikes me is it just the comparison it was an easy comp year-over-year and why is gm the laggard in the

group? >> yeah i think partly is because of the comparison. i think there are more important fundamental reasons we're seeing, really improved trend of the because it isn't just this month where we've seen outperformance or beating expectations. it is really been since last summer. and a lot of that has to do with the fact that consumers are less leveraged than they have been since 1993. there is a lot of room to increase spending. there was all that pent-up demand because people put off buying autos during the credit crisis. and banks are more willing to lend now, melissa. they are loosening credit standards. and at the same time, you've got used vehicles which are more expensive. they have a higher cost of maintenance and newer vehicles get better gas mileage. there is a lot more --. melissa: i have to wonder how this was possible? we were talking about are americans better off. look at median net worth has fallen by 40%. income has fallen. wages have fallen. so how is it possible people

have both the confidence and money to go out and buy a new car? >> it is surprising to some. unemployment is still over 8%. and yet disposable income as a percentage of, or household obligations as a percentage of disposable income, if you look at the statistics it is just over 16%. that's the the best since 1993. absolutely we would have seen stronger growth if some of these other, if the economy was firing on all cylinders, no pun intend. but surprising enough the auto industry is recovering here and you know, in china there is also some fears about weakness and the economy. china last month had a 7% year-over-year gain in their auto sales. melissa: who is your pick in the group if you had to pick the strongest player out there, somebody looking to invest in chrysler was up the most or would you go for gm which maybe had the most room to move higher? who do you like in the group and who do you avoid? >> i believe the best way to

get exposure to the auto industry is a more diversified approach. we offer an etf that buys 35 companies in the auto sector and that way you're not getting the stock specific risk that includes if there is a supply chain disruption for an individual company, if you have some sort of other individual company issue there's a lot of risk there. i think most investors that believe this might be an opportune time to invest in auto stocks are best served with a diversified approach for our etf, the symbol, carz. the auto stocks are pretty cheap the average pe in our portfolio is 11 1/2 times earnings. melissa: a lot of time stocks are cheap for a reason, ryan. appreciate your insight. >> my pleasure, thanks. melissa: coming up tonight on "money" i will have lots more from my time on the uss enterprise keeping oil moving through the strait of hormuz. 35% of the world's seaborne oil went through the straight. while in bahrain i spoke

with the chic. there is violence between the ruling shia and sunni party. i will have a talk with the sheikh is it politically and economically moral to have the fifth fleet here. i talked to a lot of you guys. there is a big controversy. some of you accused me of ignoring it. no. this is a place governed by a royal family where people are fighting for more democracy as well. this is oil's dire strait. this is on "money" 5:00 p.m. eastern on fox business. so tune in. markets are up three months in a row. will september put a chill on things? it is not off to a strong start so far. up next tracy byrnes and ashley webster will look what lie ahead to keep your money safe and growing. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] if you believe the mayan calendar,

on december 21st polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space. which would render retirement planning unnecessary. but say the sun rises on december 22nd, and you still need to retire. td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. we'll even throw in up to $600 when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k). so who's in control now, mayans?

whquestions. when you'reunt orcaring for a loved onek). with alzheimer's, not a day goes by that you don't have them. questions about treatment where to go for extra help, how to live better with the disease. so many questions, where do you start? alzheimers.gov. the answers start here.

>> we've got a market trading down 82 points right here. guys leading you into the next hour as we kick off the next month of trading. ashley: that is interesting. all eyes will be this week and weak manufacturing number taken the air out of the market. tracy: not a best way to start off. >> facebook not doing so well. welcome back. >> thank you. ashley: good afternoon, everybody, i'm ashley webster. tracy: i'm tracy byrnes. so far september living up to its reputation as the weakest month for stocks. dow, nasdaq, s&p 500 all down but they are above their worst levels of the day. the big question of course, ash was talking about it, how will europe, the fed and more shape stocks in this critical month ahead? we'll have a preview coming up. ashley: it is the democrats

turn now to make their case for the white house. we're live from the dnc in charlotte ahead. police former senator phil gramm says if you want to see how four more years of the obama white house will look, look no farther than europe. he is our special guest this hour. tracy: all comes back to europe. high gas prices didn't put the brakes on rebound month for u.s. auto sales. we'll at the you who the biggest winners were and what it means for the overall economy coming up. ashley: time for stocks as we do every 15 minutes. let's head down to nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. still down 83 points, nicole. >> tracy, ashley, we're looking at a market different over the past few weeks. last week we had a couple of very light volume days. top three or four days of the year where last week, today we're seeing a little bit heavier volume. we're seeing deals. we're seeing a lot more movers. and breaking stocks. let's look at the big picture. the dow is to hold the

13,000 mark. off the lows of the day. certainly a down arrow. one. main concerns is europe. one of the trade he is came up to me this morning and said it is all about spain. that is his opinion. it reflect as lot of what the traders are talking about with europe still being a wildcard. tell but the name on the dow right now. we'll tell you over the laggards. i was looking over the last quarter. september is a weak month. this is the is the third month of the quarter. this would be the end of the quarter. if we're going into the end of the quarter, you see hewlett-packard and intel are some of the big losers over the past couple months. caterpillar, united technologies are weighing on this market. back to you. ashley: nicole, thanks very much. tracy: uncertainty has been the buzzword on wall street this summer but our next guest disagrees. he says there are three things certain higher taxes limited income and limited growth.

we have the chief asset officer of perigrine asset management. it is not good but it is certain. >> we're listening to the skieses that we're being fed here in terms of well, we're, it is uncertainty. the markets are uncertain. europe is uncertain. we're saying to a point it is uncertain, to a point it is certain. we may not want to deal with reality. that is the certainty. tracy: with regard to who wins the election in november, these things pretty much hold? >> we have become a sad country in terms of waiting for the government to fix our problems of the i've been talking to people over the last week and being asked questions about bernanke's policies, et cetera. our problem isn't interest rates. our problem is issue of courage. i think the concept of starting businesses really i guess, if you have a certain policy, would be tax issues, versus interest rates. interest rates are plenty low enough. tracy: if it is so certain, regardless of what the certainty is, it should be easy to trade this market yet people are finding it so

difficult. >> yeah, i think, i think it was, i guess it was doug kass who printed in baron's a few weeks ago, talking about the issues of equities and their lack of correlation to anything. i think we would agree. i'm in the credit markets. i'm a high yield guy. been a high yield bite for 28 years. the notion of equities telling us anything now i'm not sure it holds. it is a algorithm and program and i'm not sure anything more than that. tracy: the old-timers like myself schooled on fundamental analysis have thrown it out the window. i understand nothing. maybe the bond world is a little more predictable dare i say? although you say stay away from corporate bonds. >> what we're referencing, by the way i notice you do have an accounting degree. tracy: fellow dork. >> fellow nerd. but anyway, i think that the, issue is that when i talk about corporates i'm talking about high grade corporates. what i don't understand, have never understood as a high yield investor why you would lay money out today at

30, 50 basis points more than treasurys with no covenants, credit risk, liquidity risk, why? it is massive market. huge commitments by institutions. we don't understand that. never have. tracy: you're a high yield guy. 40% of corporate credit is high yield. why is that? >> it is a combination of things. i started in business in '84. i can't remember how many aaa credits we actually had but it was a lot. today i think we have five corporates in the u.s. that are actually aaa. so it's a combination of modern finance where we were taught to leverage everything up. we don't care about credit ratings. we care about return on equity. sort of a slow, gradual decline. more of schools of finance than anything else. tracy: could be ratings agencies behind the eight ball. how do you invest in high yield? >> well in today's market we see a lot of misinformation. i think you have two very segregated marketplaces the first market is on the run, very large issuers issuance.

overvalued and very expensive. i hear the media are we in a bond bubble. tracy: sure. >> kind of and kind of not. this bond bubble could late 20 years there is demographic component to it. when we see say real high yield get rid of your concept of ratings and get rid of your concept of trust size and liquidity. one of the best markets i every operated. tracy: i'm sorry that the weather driving you insane. from santa barbara, came all the way here to sticky manhattan. thank you so much, sir. >> thanks for having me. ashley: democrats kicking off their national convention tonight as republicans go on the attack, asking americans if they are better off today than they were four years ago. peter barnes in charlotte, north carolina with more. peter. >> ashley, that's right. republicans are trying to turn ronald reagan into the party crasher in chief here in charlotte, trying to get in the democrats face as they get ready to begin their convention in just a few hours from now.

reviving president reagan's comment against president carter in the 190 election, are you better off than you were four years ago. paul ryan back on the stump today, hitting that message again harder. take a listen. >> president obama makes the jimmy carter years look like good ol' days. [laughter] if we fired jimmy carter then, why would we rehire barack obama now? [cheers and applause] president obama can tell you a lot and he is good at doing that but he can not tell you that you're better off. >> president obama speaking in virginia today did not directly engage the issue. he did ask voters to reelect him because he has not finished his job. take a listen to that. >> we've come too far to turn back now. [applause] we created a lot of jobs but we've got more jobs to create.

we create ad lot of home-grown energy but we have more energy to generate. >> if you don't think this is about rapid response, here is an e-mail from the republican national committee announcing a new video called president carter, president obama, just dropped into my in box a few minutes ago. republicans will keep hammering this all week, if not to election day. tracy and ashley. ashley: very true. peter barnes, in charlotte at the start of the dnc thank you very much, peter. >> you bet. tracy: here is a good story. fast-food giant mcdonald's known for its big mac is opening its first vegetarian restaurant in india next year which i think would be a oxymoron. the world's largest restaurant chain taylors its menu to suit local taste which means in india no beef or pork to cater to the hindu local culture. it will be located in northern india.

the company already has plans to open a second location in northwestern india kashmir. currently mcdonald's has 271 restaurants in india. the in the restaurants the menu is half vegetarian. the burger which eyes a spiced potato based patty is top seller and accounts for quarter of sales. mcdonald's shares are on the move. down 47 cents now at $89. i guess it is like veggie burgers. ashley: i guess it is. over a million tofu burgers served is what the sign says. tracy: special sauce. ashley: speaking of food, you like wild wings? like buffalo wild wings. tracy: yeah, sure. ashley: buffalo wild wings shares falling off a cliff in july but they have since climbed back. there you go. look at that. up 2.25%. charles payne shares his take on this stock's next move. tracy: it is football season. ashley: that's right. tracy: car and truck sales

rose 10% or more last month. is it a sign of growing consumer confidence? hmmm. i don't know. first as we do every day at this time let's take a look how oil is trading. $95.32 a barrel. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 when i'm trading, i'm so into it,

tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 hours can go by before i realize tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 that i haven't even looked away from my screen. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 that kind of focus... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 that's what i have when i trade. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and the streetsmart edge trading platform from charles schwab... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 ...helps me keep an eye on what's really important to me. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 it's packed with tools that help me work my strategies, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 spot patterns and find opportunities more easily. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 then, when i'm ready... act decisively. tdd#: 1-800-342550 i can even access it from the cloud and trade on any computer. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with the exact same tools, the exact same way. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and the reality is, with schwab mobile, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i can focus on trading anyplace, anytime... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 ...until i choose to focus on something else. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 trade at schwab for $8.95 a trade. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 open an account and trade tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 up to 6 months commission-free online equity trading tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with a $50,000 deposit.

tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-800-653-0240 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and a trading specialist tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 will help you get started today. wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support. legalzoom documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. it's law that just makes sense. tracy: that time of day. we have to make some money

with charles payne. we have a stock that will satisfy your portfolio and your hunger. >> definitely satisfy your hunger i think. by the way is there anything more appropriate than talking about buffalo wild wings the day before the nfl season? tracy: no. >> they do go together so well. here's the thing. last time they reported they disappointed the street. stock got hammered. since then it is coming on strong. volume is 478,000. normally trades 580,000. we're doing 20, 30% more than the average daily volume. the stock is up. breaking all kinds of resistance points here. hear is the interesting thing, guys. in the report, management said third quarter, first four weeks, company same-store sales were up 6.8%. franchises up 7.3%. both numbers significantly higher than we saw in the second quarter. the street seems to ignore the part. now it is coming on. average weekly sales were up big for company and franchises. ashley: that is interesting because food prices are going up. doesn't hurt them. >> they have the ability.

if you look at all the fast-food restaurants, people think their prices are reasonable according to all the different restaurant surveys. in fact a lot of times they come in number one. they do have wiggle room with respect to the prices. franchise stores, 54,766 a week. another 50 grand, actually may consider switching. a little low for you. 54 grand a week. not too bad. i'm looking for the stock to pick up. it is breaking out. breaking 250 -day moving average as we speak. this a beautiful breakout on convincing. tracy: traders don't look at wings all summer long. ashley: but starting to be. tracy: we'll start eating. you see the stock going up. >> i hope so. the threw 80, room to 87. my longer term target is 100 bucks. i love the stock. my subscribers are in it. they're not about being in it but happier year today. ashley: hang tight. >> hang tight the baby will fly.

ashley: have a great day. let's talk music, the rolling stones will mark their 50th anniversary, can you believings with four shows in november. you need to be in london or new york city. not quite new york city. according to billboard they are planning two shows at the barclay center, the arena opening in brooklyn and two shows in london. the first shows since 2007. you know what? stones don't come cheap. according to reports the band will be paid 25 million for the four shows. who can cough up that kind of cash? no surprise here. the show is being produced by virgin founder richard branson and australian producer paul danty. no word on ticket prices. tracy: who is going to go though? ashley: they're older crowd. tracy: they're old. we're old. only old people. ashley: oldish. tracy: as i said, old people. ashley: justin says he is going to go.

tracy: old people are going. quarter after. every 15 minutes we check on the markets. nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole, would you go to a stones concert? >> i would have to consider my schedule. there are a lot of people that would go. i can tell you all man brothers come through here once, twice a year. everybody i know goes to that. i am sure a lot of people would like to see mick jagger and start me up. what is not starting facebook. all-time low again today for facebook. let's real it back and to may 18th. that was the ipo date. $38. went up to 45 bucks. plenty of folks thought that was way too overpriced. whether you thought that was the case or not it is moving lower. a lot of folks were saying 18, 17, 12, whatever they were saying. here it is new all-time low. down 1.7%. there is a concern how they will make their money. on the other side of the

coin, we have to be fair, jpmorgan cut their target to $30. still upbeat on the stock. the company still looking good. ad revenue will reaccelerate in the back half of 2012 and 2013. taking about users rapidly shifting to mobile. this will be great for facebook. so they're very upbeat on facebook. back to you. tracy: can't always get what you want, ash. ashley: certainly, not a level of satisfaction in that stock. nicole, we are out. thank you so much. you started it with that start up reference. coming up better than expected august for u.s. auto sales. despite higher gas prices and economic concerns. an auto analyst helps us break down the numbers next. tracy: first a look how the dollar is faring against foreign currencies as we head out to break.

and waiting in line. i don't have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. [ male announcer ] with stamps.com, you can print real u.s. postage for all your letters and packages. it gives you the exact amount of postage you need the instant you need it. can you print only stamps? no. first class. priority mail. certified. international. and the mailman picks it up. i don't leave the shop anymore. [ male announcer ] get a 4-week trial plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again.

>> at 21 minutes past the hour, hello, i'm julie banderas with your fox news minute. crews are fighting a wildfire in california's angeles national forest say it could be burned more than a week before it is contained. the rough terrain is full of thick brush that hasn't burned for years. it is not known what started the blaze in the san gabriel mountains.

lawyers in the drew peterson murder trial are making their closing arguments today. peterson is charged withdrawning his third wife kathleen savio. her death was treated a an accident until his fourth wife disappeared in 2007. a study by stanford university found organic produce and meat typically isn't any better for you than conventional food when it comes to vitamin and nutrient content. it does generally however reduce exposure to pesticides and antibiotic resistant bacteria. those are the news headlines on the fox business network. back to ashley and tracy. tracy: julie banderas, thank you very much. >> sure. ashley: u.s. automakers revved up strong steals in august. ford rebounded from a poor july with sales up 13% last month compared to a year ago. sales for general motors up 10% year-over-year. chrysler topping estimates as sales rose 14% from last year, marking the company's

best august sales numbers in five years. so do these sales mean you should be investing in auto stocks? jessica caldwell, senior analyst for edmunds.com joins me now. jessica, we look at these year-over-year numbers. was it that a year ago was so awful that perhaps these numbers are be looking better than they really are? >> that is definitely the case. we had a strong month this month compared to last august. retail numbers, people buying cars they were the strongest they were all year when you seasonally adjust. that indicates people are buying cars. i think that is good news not only for the auto industry but the overall economy. ashley: how do high gas prices play into this and which automakers benefited from that? >> well, at this point of the year you tend to see seasonally people buy more trucks and suvs. if you look at auto sales, very strong numbers for compact cars and subcompact cars. all the companies offer pretty compelling products in those segments. they all got a pretty good

boost from that. i think when you look at chevy's numbers, they're the top selling compact car of the month and it is not a brand historically that you equate with smaller vehicles. ashley: by all accounts consumers, jessica, have less debt than they have had in quite some time which is encouraging. bus this mean banks are more willing to lend and did that help auto sales? >> that certainly helped. credit loosening helped people buy vehicles. people in the subprime category, that has definitely grown from where it has been over the past few years. you're seeing auto market in terms of financing is opening up. people driving those old cars, six, seven, eight years old, are finally able to trade them in and buy new ones. ashley: what about incentives? there are good ones out there. the gm had the no haggle pricing, money back guaranty. have those really paid off? >> well, at this time of the year you start to see the old model year, in this case 2012, be sold down.

there were definitely good deals out there. we're seeing other hidden incentives we call them. incentives to specific dealers like stair step programs. those are out there that automakers are spending money on, not always reported because iters hard to report on those because they're very targeted. if you look at incentive spending today compared to where it was in 2009 it is definitely a world's difference. ashley: how are we looking going forward? what do you see on the horizon? >> well i think we can be optimistic. if you look what is driving sales it is people coming in. they have an old car. they need a car. obviously people can't go without their vehicle. that is really what is driving the market. when you combine that with credit loosening up and people opting for longer vehicle loans, it is true growth. not just fleet sales or anything like that. ashley: there are solidness in these sales numbers. jessica caldwell, senior analyst with edmunds.com. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. tracy: that is good news.

ashley: yeah it is good news. tracy: this not so much. old navy is benching its latest nfl t-shirt design. a new houston, texasance shirt claim they won the 196 1a fc champions. but in 1961 the texans resided in dallas and were second, not first in the american football league west decision. now the dal dallas texans won the afl championship in 1962. they left dallas for kansas city and became the chiefs. the texans did not return to football until 2002 moving to houston and playing in the national football league. not the american football league. the houston texans have yet to win a championship. they won the first division title in the 2011. this isn't the first fumble for old navy. back in 2011 they unveiled a line of college and nfl t-shirts were well, grammaticly incorrect. ashley: new york gets.

one letter off. i'm making that up. tracy: texans play on sunday. that i know. my son is in a ridiculous football pool. ashley: he wants the texans. tracy: we know way too much about football in my house. fantasy leagues. ashley: i love football. almost here. from housing to jobs to paychecks are americans better off than they were four years ago? liz macdonald is crunching the numbers. she will be here next. tracy: first look at some of today's winners and losers on the s&p 500 as we head out. gamestop, somebody is buying videogames. [ male announcer ] how do you trade?

with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process -- from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade.

stuart: 30 past the hour. let's check the markets as we do every 15 minutes, floor of the nyse. nicole: we are talking about the economics and that is something weighing on the markets but not going too far too fast. >> the i s m was not very good and it is coming out this week. the market movers unemployment. that is what everybody is looking's and coincidentally they have a day after the final speech president obama will give at the convention. everyone is speculating his words match the numbers. >> something else you noted reading through some notes you like talking about the polls and if the polls began to change one way or another you think that could be market-moving. >> right now there really isn't

a lot of certainty or clarity. if you are speculating you are really speculating. should they turn one direction or the other considerably that will be a market mover. >> one better for the markets. >> there is a button on. for anybody who can see it. >> governor romney would be much more beneficial to the markets. much more business friendly. >> there you have it. one trader's opinion and is an influential one on the floor of the stock exchange. ashley: thank you so much. we will be back in 15 minutes. cheryl: a good time to be a kid with a loose tooth. the tooth fairy -- under kids pillow. 15% from a year ago. could be teaching kids about a dangerous financial lesson.

this is a serious topic of the day. cheryl: all there is -- [talking over each other] >> a tooth because it is another process not like they did any work. >> what do you pay? ashley: i used to pay back in the day probably $2. >> people blame ben bernanke for inflation in this economy. i think it is the tooth fairy. when you have multiple children, i have a lot of money. it is a lot of money. a lot of money. the kids sort of your point are expecting it. [talking over each other] ashley: we gave away the story. >> visa is putting out an apps

to find out what people are paying so you don't feel like an out liar. the worst thing in the world would be for your child to be the talk of the playground because they didn't get enough. make your own rules. i make my own rules. i know kids who got -- they got $2. ashley: they better not pay a visit to me. >> we are going to talk about the democratic national convention and have a debate at the top and talking about a $16 trillion in debt this economy is facing. i better off than four years ago? we will examine that as well. >> sixteen trillion at the start of the convention. >> right in the middle of our hour. the willis report tonight at 6:00 eastern on fox business network. ashley: the democratic national convention underway in charlotte, north carolina and

ronald reagan's age old question is most pressing this year. >> i you better off than you were four years ago? ashley: i remember him saying that. republicans running again on that infamous question. liz macdonald here with the bottom line. what is the answer? are we better off? liz: that is the question that ronald reagan asked in 1980. let's go to the road map of this debate and the statistics people ought to look at. let's look at what the numbers are showing. we are better off than we were four years ago. the stock market and indices are up across the board. corporate profits are up 63%. gross domestic product is up and running in 1.7% annualized, downward revision. average hourly wages are up. let's turn to the flip side. we are not better off than we are four years ago. 8.3% unemployment versus 6% back

in august -- in january of 2009. of 39% in median net worth and 8% drop in average annual income and nearly 1 third of mortgages are under water but some bright spots. the case schiller had their first year on year gain since 2006 when you knock out a government tax credit in 2010. bottom line is how should we look at this? what is the number you ought to look at? i look at net job creation or net job loss. we have had 360,000 net job losses since january of 2009. one no. you got to keep in your hip pocket as the election rolls forward. ashley: interesting stuff. liz macdonald with the bottom line. tracy: more on this topic next as phil gramm says there's lots to learn about how president reagan and president obama respond to the recession. ashley: as we do every day we

will take a look at the 10 and 30 year treasuries. yield on the 10 year, 1.58%, 30 year slightly higher 1.69%. the right back. want to try to crack it? yeah, that's the way to do it! now we need a little bit more... a little bit more vanilla? this is great! [ male announcer ] at humana, we believe there's never been a better time to share your passions because the results... are you having fun doing this? yeah.

that's a very nice cake! [ male announcer ] well, you can't beat them. [ giggles ] ohh! you got something huh? whoa... [ male announcer ] humana understands the value of spending time together that's a lot of work getting that one in! let's go see the birdies. [ male announcer ] one on one, sharing what you know. let's do it grandpa. that's why humana agents will sit down with you, to listen and understand what's important to you. it's how we help you choose the right humana medicare plan for you. because when your medicare is taken care of, you can spend more time sharing your passions. wow. [ giggles ] [ male announcer ] with the people who matter most. i love you grandpa! i love you grandma! now you're a real fisherman. [ male announcer ] humana. ashley: i am adam shapiro. stocks continued downward trend in afternoon trading following

reach with -- weak report on the u.s. economy. the dow is down 20 points. game stop shares getting a boost on ratings upgrade from goldman sachs. goldman raised stock to a buy. the video game retailers opportunities over the next 12 months. the firm raised the price target by $5 to $25. toys r us making it easier for some parents to get a jump on shopping ahead of a holiday season. starting today through halloween the toy retailer is waiving its feet the is the lay away program. expanding the types of items eligible for service. with r us follows walmart which lasts its items available for layaway as well. that is the latest from the fox business network giving you the power to prosper.

ashley: critical week for president obama's quest for

another four years in the white house. my next guest says the president's response for the economy should tell voters what a second term would bring. former senator phil gramm of carry u.s. policy metrics and joins us from san antonio, texas. thank you for joining us. you wrote an op-ed comparing president reagan and president obama's response to a recession saying among other things jobs and incomes rose under reagan and fell under obama and the number of americans on food stamps and unemployment fell under reagan and rose under obama. what did president reagan do that president obama is not? >> first of all we had two big-time recession in -- 1981 where the unemployment rate went to 10.8%. at the same time we had double digit inflation and 21% interest rates. a hard time.

we had the current recession which has been a deep and bitter recession. the two presidents had very different policies. ronald reagan cut taxes, reduced discretionary spending and reduced regulatory burden and the economy responded 55 months after the recession started. reagan's recovery created 7.8 million more jobs than when the recession started. president obama massively increase discretionary spending, proposed and implemented tax increases and implemented the most rapid regulatory burden in american history. response is 55 months after the recession started we still have four million fewer americans working when the recession started and the average income of working american family under

reagan grew by $3,400 in real purchasing dollars under obama it has declined by $4,900 and what is remarkable is it has declined faster since the recession ended than it did during the recession which is very troubling and the article points out that the flip side is under reagan food stamps, even people drawing disability, unemployment insurance declined dramatically in the reagan recovery. they have all exploded in the obama recovery as the 126 programs that make up our trillion dollar welfare establishment. has grown faster under obama than anybody else. ashley: you have a ph.d. in economics from university of

georgia. how would you tackle this crippling debt to take over $16 trillion tonight without raising taxes? >> i would reform entitlements. i would change medicare to try to give people a greater control over their health care to create more competition, bring in efficiency to bear in the market. i would reform social security on a prospective basis. for people below 55 years of age i would begin raising the retirement age. we all are living longer and healthier. we are going to have to work longer. everybody knows those reforms have to be made. this isn't partisan. they don't want to talk about it and one thing i admire about paul ryan is you like or dislike the guy but you got to say he has been willing to stand up and

talk about an issue that everyone else is afraid of. ashley: thank you for joining us from texas. we appreciate it. tracy: nickelodeon in a pickle over its handling of an inappropriate two. dennis kneale covering the story joins us now. inappropriate is light. dennis: i can't even get into the details but as movie stars go jason biggs takes the low road. team made his name for having unnatural relations with an apple pie. now they have gone too far on twitter. the 20 first century medium for that national convention. tweeting obscene comments about the wives of mitt romney and paul ryan. speculation about parts of their body and expressed an and forge in tent. those posted messages marked outrage responses on his twitter

page. more from others were hailing his supposed and comic genius. the twitter account is promoted to kids by nickelodeon come the with the new cartoon series on the teenage mutant ninja turtles. women rage the ruckus about the obscene rudeness urging nickelodeon to fire the actor but so far nickelodeon has not put out an offical response and the mainstream media which reported long and loud on what democrats call the republican war on women hasn't taken much notice of this verbal assaults. conservatives say you would see a media firestorm if rush limbaugh had said something rude about michele obama. as to the original inventor himself he said, quote, to everyone freaking out about my tweets you know i put my blank in a pie, rice?

no word from nickelodeon. so far nothing. ashley: back to nicole petallides on the floor of the stock exchange. nicole: looking at the nasdaq composite and the s&p. turned into the green and we are watching apple closely. the nasdaq up 1/2% after being down 1/2% earlier today. we got news out of apple. september 12th will be the day they are out. san francisco is the place so everybody is waiting so maybe they will learn more about the i phone 5. easier to do texting and so much more. look at $673.91. the high is $6.80 and change and the major market averages along as well. the democratic convention giving

a boost to charlotte's economy. we have the head of the chamber of commerce and special guests next. ashley: today's winners and losers.

ashley: commodities beat equities, bonds and the u.s. dollar public its second consecutive month the longest streak in the year. will the trend continue into september. sandra smith joins us with today's trade. sandra: that is the big

question. where's the money going to go the rest of the year? commodities last couple months, is the money going to go into the car for the last two month? >> we will see a rally in commodities especially greens. they have the seasonal cycle will back and traders think a lot of quantitative easing there is no audit on the fed or anything so people think there's money going into the market. sandra: weaker u.s. dollar and higher commodity prices. oil 115 by the end of the year and $9, are these practical forecasts in your opinion? >> on the grain side it is. the job is turning through that hitting an all-time low but as far as oil, 115 is aggressive and you won't see that number without quantitative easing 3.

>> precious-metals are heating up. gold has been shining. silver one of the best performers in august. are you forecasting higher precious metal forecasts? >> i am forecasting myself at the 1800 level in gold by mid october and as you see the yield falling the last few weeks really makes me think these precious-metals will pick up to other commodities. >> there you have it so commodities are outperforming the last couple months and by the look of the trading floor they expect prices to continue to go higher the rest of the year. ashley: thank you so much. appreciate it. >> with the financial impact the democratic national convention will have on charlotte, north carolina? is bringing millions of dollars that some say it is nothing compared to what the city had to spend to prepare for the event. bob morgan, ceo and president of the charlotte chamber of commerce. it is my understanding the

actual convention center has cost taxpayers $30 million a year between construction and operating and things like that. will we see any of that back? >> welcome to fox news and all of your viewers and visitors to charlotte. this convention is a huge win. our convention center paid for by tourism dollars. there has never been a bigger tourism event in charlotte. 15,000 members of the media, thousands of delegates and the students that are here, 350 representatives of foreign government. we are doing well economically by this convention. tracy: the unemployment rate about 10%. is in creating jobs at least temporarily for some of the people in charlotte? >> a great hit for the tourism industry but it is a one time event. charlotte's unemployment is 10%. that is a curious number because

the population continues to grow. long term if people continue to move here we are the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the united states. we have been adding new jobs but not fast enough. we have a good healthy diverse economy that will see us through over the long run. >> all the ancillary towns as well especially with hotels and things like that. >> absolutely from a direct economic impact but the bigger picture, charlotte has never played on this largest age before. we have been about building charlotte over the last half century or so. this is our debut. the largest such event we ever hosted and the eyes of the world are upon us. most of your viewers and visitors have never been to charlotte before. we have a very positive city to show to our visitors and to the world and there are a lot of people we have talked to on your staff talking about how we can figure out how to move to charlotte. it is a positive product in the

business of selling charlotte. tracy: thank you very much. >> thank you as welcome back. tracy: bank of america's headquarters. ashley: big banking community. the nasdaq and s&p turning positive in the last hour and the dow fighting to join them. you don't want to miss a minute of a final hour of trading. liz claman standing by for countdown to the closing bell coming up next. now you don't have to go to a bank to get the things you want from a bank, like no-fee atms, all over the world. free checkwriting and mobile deposits. now depositing a check is as easy as taking a picture. free online bill payments. a highly acclaimed credit card with 2% cash back into your fidelity account. open a fidelity cash management account today and discover another reason serious investors are choosing fidelity.

liz: good afternoon everybody. i'm liz claman. it is the last hour of trading. this is countdown to the the closing bell. a perfect time to start because guess what? the the s&p 500 has flipped around and turned positive in the last 45 minutes, led by countercyclical groups, things like telecom, consumer staples, healthcare and utilities. and this matters because the